Contra Costa today
Sun, 27 Sep 1998 17:48:35 PDT
From: Steve Glover
This morning I birded the Richmond area, then headed to Jewel L[ake] in the afternoon. I spent the day looking at migrants hoping for a rarity. Strangely enough it was the waterbirds that stole the show. At Pt. Isabel, accessed from Central Ave. off of I-580, the Peregrine Falcon was back on the pair of radio towers (it was only on one at a time, of course). Offshore the conditions were superlative. During about 45 minutes of scoping I found a Pigeon Guillemot and a Marbled Murrelet. Both are rare in the fall in the county, the Murrelet being the rarer of the two. Both were to the left of the island but both eventually flew. I then checked the fennel along the trail to the north of Pt. Isabel. I usually park at the end of S. 51st St. which is accessed from the Bayview exit. This is the next offramp north of Central. This area is rather secluded and some may feel more comfortable staying at Pt. Isabel and walking. Anyway, the fennel between Pt. Isabel and the houses to the north had a fair number of migrants. There were 2 Say's Phoebes, one Willow Flycatcher, one W[estern] Wood-Pewee, 5 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 8 to 10 Orange-crowned Warblers, 25 to 30 Yellow Warblers, 15 to 20 Yellow-rumped Warblers (all Audubon's) and a male Lesser Goldfinch. The goldfinch is rare along the bay in Richmond. Miller/Knox was a little slow for migrants with only 2 W[estern] Tanagers, 2 Pac[ific]-slope Flycatchers, 1 Wilson's Warbler, 1 Swainson's Thrush, and one Winter Wren.
I then went to the end of Marina Bay Parkway to scope the bay again. Here I was able to pick out the male Harlequin Duck on the beach at Brooks Is[land]. While watching the Harlequin Duck a flock of scoters flew through my field of view. Amongst 10 Surfs was a beautiful Oldsquaw that landed for prolonged views. It is unusual to be able to scope Brooks Is. in the afternoon as the sun, heatwaves and wind are usually overwhelming.
Jewel L. was also slow late in the afternoon. Most exciting was a flock of 60 Vaux's that coursed over the area for the 2 hours I was there. Try as I might there were no Black Swifts amongst them. Around the lake were 7 Winter Wrens, 9 Townsend's Warblers, 3 Pac-slopes, 2 Yellow Warblers, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 1 Warbling Vireo, 5 Black-throated Grays, 2 Wilson's and 2 "Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Steve Glover
Today 9/27
Sun, 27 Sep 1998 20:33:09 -0700
From: Rusty Scalf
I was absolutely amazed at the number of Orange-crown[ed] and Yellow Warblers in Berkeley and at my survey site along Wildcat Creek in Richmond today. They were everywhere. Both species were even out in the salt marsh foraging in the Grindelia. Both species were at the Berkeley Horticultural nursery; Both were in San Pablo Park; Both were in my back yard. They really did seem ubiquitous.
Also saw a Clapper Rail in Richmond for the second time in the salt marsh owned by Chevron near Wildcat Creek Regional Trail.
Rusty Scalf
Berkeley, Ca
East Bay Shoreline 9/27
Sun, 27 Sep 1998 21:07:21 -0700
From: Larry Tunstall
Despite cool and overcast weather with occasional sprinkles and an almost complete absence of anything other than gulls and cormorants on the water, we had an interesting morning of birding today between Emeryville and Albany.
We started just after 8 AM at Point Emery, the little spit of land at the west end of Ashby Ave. This is a great and often-overlooked spot for shorebirds and (in another month or so) ducks. We started with a big flock of Sanderlings on the beach just north of the spit, and some Least Sandpipers mixed in with them. Farther out on the spit, we found a flock of about a dozen Black Turnstones and a few Surfbirds, a Black-bellied Plover, and some Willets. There were sparrows in the bushes that looked like Savannahs to me.
Then behind the Seabreeze Market at University Ave, we found about 13 Killdeer working over the mudflat, along with a Marbled Godwit, some peeps, a Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron, and a lot of Red-winged and Brewers Blackbirds. Later we saw a big flock of Canada Geese here.
Out around the Berkeley pier and Shorebird Nature Center, we found Western Gull, American Robin, Fox Sparrow, Great Egret, Mallard, Starling, American Crow, House Finch, California Towhee, Northern Flicker (red-shafted), Anna's Hummingbird, Forster's Tern, White-crowned Sparrow, Ring-billed Gull, House Sparrow, Snowy Egret, Mourning Dove, American Coot. A Pied-bill Grebe in the Marina near the office was decked out in very bright colors. A Black Phoebe was on the rocks just north of Skates Restaurant, working the edge of the water for bugs.
At the south end of the racetrack stables, we found a Semi-palmated Plover. Along the Albany Bay Trail north of the racetrack we found American Wigeon, Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Black-bellied Plover, American Avocet, Willet, Mallard, Snowy Egret, dowitchers, Black-necked Stilts, and huge numbers of peeps, definitely including some Westerns.
All in all, a much more satisfying morning than we had Thursday at Tilden, when we spotted less than a dozen species, the only really interesting one being a Warbling Vireo in the trees between the nature center and the pond.
In my yard in El Cerrito, a scattered few White-crowned Sparrows (including immatures) have been turning up over the past week. The consumption of sunflower seeds declined drastically for the past month or so. There are still some House Finches around, but not the usual big mob. Is there some natural food currently drawing them away from the feeders?
Good birding,
Larry
Larry Tunstall
http://www.best.com/~folkbird/
EBBC website:
http://www.best.com/~folkbird/EBBC/